Searching (Part 2)

View Part 1 of Searching.

By the year 2256, Henry had lived numerous lifetimes. He had never understood how his students would end up end up finding the artifact and want to swap with whatever much older body he would be in at the time.

Aiko was simply the latest one to do so. She had been quite clever by creating a digital replica of the artifact to take Henry’s current body (which had been a 60 year old woman). Aiko simply claimed to be old at heart and wanting to retire before even graduating.

But with the digital replica, he was able to study the artifact like never before. Coupled with the advance in technology since the 1940s, he was sure there would be clues as to how it swapped bodies and why he seemed to almost be linked with it.

There didn’t seem to be any sense to it at first, but then he did a deep scan with AI to pick up on a faint pulse of light undetectable to the human eye emanating from the glow in the center -- a pulse that matched his own heartbeat. As he continued to examine it, the syncing with his own self was uncanny. What exactly was this thing that convinced people to swap bodies with him and had allowed him to live for over 300 years?

Returning to the Surface World

It was hard for Luis to truly appreciate the body he ended up with as a result of the Great Shift at first. He had been on the subway, and the train came to a grinding halt with the power going out after the flash. He could sense his clothes felt strange -- heck, he could feel his whole body was strange, but it was also pitch black.

People had all sort of trouble with their phones, too. They entered in the wrong passcodes if they could even locate them at all. Eventually, some light started to show up, but it was sparse.

Then there was getting out of the subway. The train was completely disabled, so they had to walk along the tracks. As he walked through the sludgy water, Luis soon became keenly aware of the open toed shoes on his feet. It felt like he was wading through sewage, and he swore he felt a rat crawl around his ankles at one point.

It was several hours before they finally emerged. It seemed it wasn’t just people on the subway who had swapped bodies, but everyone on the surface as well. And Luis could finally see his new body for what it was -- certainly nothing short of a knockout -- he just had to stop associating it with all the grossness he just experienced.

Lunch (Part 2)

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By the end of the day, Sam realized it wasn’t just lunch. She was basically following him everywhere. As he rode the train home, he wondered what she was going to bug him about next. Maybe she’d tell him he wasn’t going to the gym often enough in her body. Maybe she’d tell him he wasn’t standing up straight enough. Hell, maybe she’d tell him he wasn’t brushing his teeth the right way.

The thought sent a shiver down his neck. He understood that this used to be her body, but it felt like he was being stalked. If she watched him eat lunch and followed him onto the train, who knows where else she was following him where he hadn’t noticed.

He thought about telling her off again, but it didn’t work the last time. Perhaps this time, he’d call the police. Despite being sympathetic on some levels, he didn’t find this appropriate at all.

30% (Part 3)

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View Part 2 of 30%.

“See! I told you being a woman wouldn’t be too bad!” Rin smiled.

“Too bad the phone is only15% charged.” Jin replied.

“We needed it for shopping and selfies and stuff right now! We can charge it more soon enough. But, come on, this is a pretty unique exprience! We have to enjoy and document it!”

“But what are we going to do with leopard print skirts and lacey underwear once we use the app again and get our bodies back?”

“I’ve already got it figured out, Bro! If it actually works, we just report the phone was stolen. They’ll be looking for two chicks from hundreds of years in the past that they’ll never find. Or else we don’t get back to our own bodies, and then we’re going to actually need this stuff, you know?”

“If we don’t get back...?”

Rin could see how sober his brother was getting thinking about that. He tried to be comforting. “I mean, I hope not...but we have to entertain that it’s a possibility. Don’t we?”

High End Parkour

When the massive body swap happened in the park, Graham was blinded by flashing light. He felt himself wearing a tight, restrictive dress and even more uncomfortable shoes. He knew he was in the wrong body and guessed he was some sort of model at a fashion shoot. But he also saw his own body running away. The last thing he wanted was to lose track of himself, so he began to sprint.

Despite the uncomfortable clothing, the body he inhabited was surprisingly agile and athletic. The clothing wasn’t too much of a hinderance; it was like this body was just used to it. And, fortunately, Graham’s former male body wasn’t exactly in the best of shape.

Of course, tracking down his own body didn’t track down the cause of the body swapping. The guy in his body was just running out of fear. They needed to get back to where they had come from, and even then there were no guarantees. They might just be stuck like this! Graham groaned at the possibility.